Two elderly women of Los Angeles were sentenced Tuesday to spend the rest of their lives in prison for murdering two homeless persons to collect insurance policies taken out on their lives.
The sentencing relates to the cold-blooded killing of 73-year-old Paul Vodos in 1999 and 50-year-old Kenneth McDavid six years later.
Superior Court Judge David Wesley handed down two life terms each without possibility of parole to 77-year-old Helen Golay and 75-year-old Olga Rutterschmidt.
They plucked the destitute off the street as "investments," insured their lives for millions, then snuffed them out in staged hit-and-run accidents. They became so consumed by greed that they bickered over the money even after their arrests, the prosecution charged.
The women had moved Vados into an apartment, then started applying for life insurance policies on him. Golay and Rutterschmidt jointly took out four policies, each as 50% beneficiaries. Golay also took out three more policies on her own.
Paul Vados was found dead in 1999 in a Hollywood alley in an apparent hit-and-run. The women collected about $600,000 in insurance claims.
In late 2002, they began applying for insurance on McDavid, a transient from Northern California, prosecutors said. Rutterschmidt and Golay moved him into a Hollywood apartment, and from motel to motel.
On June 5, 2005, Golay called Mutual of New York and asked to have Rutterschmidt removed as co-beneficiary on the account. That company said no.
Health news 
Subscribe
Follow us on Twitter
